Willamette River Advocacy

Sharing HAP's Vision

November 4, 2016

It has been very rewarding to develop a relationship with new mayor Ted Wheeler and his staff. Ted is the first Mayor that has come out publicly, stating both in words and through action, that creating improved access to the Willamette River is important to him. Very encouraging!

Words are important and it’s very easy to talk about things you would like to see happen or things that should happen. But for many people it stops there. Talk, talk, talk no action. Should does not happen.

A few readers joined Ted to swim his ballot across the Willamette River the day before the May election. Many more readers joined us for HAP’s First Annual Mayoral Swim. What an amazing statement to see Ted swim across the Willamette River with his wife and daughter. It is the strongest example of leadership I have seen come out of City Hall in my seven years of activism. My gut tells me it’s just the beginning.

Last week I had an opportunity to share HAP’s vision for creating better access to the Willamette River in an intimate meeting with our new Mayor. Ted let me know he is 100% behind our vision. We are now in the process of developing our priority list for changes we would like to see. We will put this forward in a future newsletter for comment and feedback.

We have an extremely talented Board, Board of Trustees and volunteers, but we know you have great ideas too. We hope you share them with us. Our short-term priorities will all have a focus on making recreating in the Willamette River more accessible and safer, and exploring opportunities to educate the public on river related safety.

We have momentum! Your participation in our events, interactions on Facebook and Twitter, and spreading the word to friends have all helped us get where we are today. Thank you for your good vibes and support!